Caywood Road slip repair bids will be accepted

August 16, 2013

Caywood Road residents should soon see two landslips on the road repaired.

Washington County Commissioners on Thursday approved a request from Washington County Engineer Roger Wright to solicit bids for the repair project.

Bids are expected to be opened at 1 p.m. Aug. 29 at the commissioners' meeting room in the Washington County Courthouse Annex.

The bid will include both road slips, one about 120 feet and the other about 80 feet, Wright said. The heavy rains the Mid-Ohio Valley experienced in the past couple of weeks saturated the soil under a portion of Caywood Road that runs along a creek, which rose and fell with the rain, causing the landslips.

Wright said the slips have not affected traffic. So far, they have taken out only two feet of the 4-foot shoulder.

"It was a typical landslide that typically occurs in winter and spring," Wright said. "If it's going to take the road out, it's a matter of when if we don't repair it."

Fact Box

What's next?

The Washington County Commissioners will conduct their next business meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Barlow branch of the Washington County Public Library

Because Caywood Road is on the list of roadways to be repaved during the summer and the slips have delayed that project, Wright said once a bid is accepted Aug. 29, the contractor will have three weeks to complete the repairs on the slips. Once finished, Caywood Road will be repaved.

"They got it patched right now," said Terry Morgenstern, 64, of 5290 Caywood Road. "It probably should be repaved."

In other business Thursday:

The commissioners approved a new lease, subject to review by Washington County Prosecutor Jim Schneider, with rent of $1,000 per month for the space occupied for the past 10 years by the Washington County Behavioral Health Board on Muskingum Drive.

During that period, the board was paying a pro-rated amount for utilities based on the space the board occupied. The most recent lease expired June 30. The board and the commissioners decided a $1,000 per month flat fee, including utilities and maintenance, would be a better option.

Attorney Jim Huggins submitted a letter to the commissioners about extending for another six months an agreement to lease the oil and gas rights in underground formations and neighboring properties on the 269 acres of the Washington County Home handled by the Caywood Group, a landowners association that includes the county as a member. The rate is $2,550 per acre. The lease also bans drilling on the 70 acres surrounding the home.

Earlier in the year, the commissioners said SGM Holding Inc. missed the deadline to finalize a lease agreement and forfeited almost $690,000 in signing bonuses to the county. The extension gives the commissioners time to seek another interested party.

"Apparently, it's worth the signing bonus while they make a decision," Commission President David White said.